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LOS ANGELES - The talk shows are booked, the US$22 million mansion is decorated, the paparazzi are primed and Victoria Beckham says she's "really, really excited" about moving to Los Angeles.
But the question may be whether Los Angeles, already teeming with world-class stars, is interested in the arrival on Thursday of the "Posh" member of the soon-to-be-reunited Spice Girls pop group. Beckham's husband, British soccer star David, has signed a contract with the Los Angeles Galaxy soccer team.
Victoria Beckham, 33, is a household name in her native England, Europe and much of Japan, where she is seen not just as arm candy to a hot soccer player, but as a pop star turned fashion icon with her own line of jeans, sunglasses and perfume.
She remains largely unknown to Americans. Many have seen pictures of Victoria Beckham, but most have never heard her speak.
"She is coming over here as a mega-star and there is all this buzz, but Americans are curious to know why," said Melanie Bromley, West Coast bureau chief of Us Weekly magazine.
"To have a new superstar for us to obsess about and analyze would be a welcome relief. But for Victoria to become one of those people, she will have to get some personality. At the moment, she's a slightly two-dimensional character for Americans."
Beckham's publicity machine is pulling out the stops for her official L.A. debut.
'Meticulously planned adventure'
She has lined up at least two talk shows, a reality-style TV documentary about her trans-Atlantic move, and a cover spread for W magazine. In December, the reunited Spice Girls will kick off their global tour in Los Angeles.
In the past two months, Beckham has been a presenter at the MTV awards, won the Glamour Magazine Woman of the Year Award and been photographed at trendy L.A. restaurants, stores and parties.
"It's been a meticulously planned adventure," said Gary Morgan, CEO of the Los Angeles-based picture agency Splash.
"Posh is over here to support David, but her desire is to become the top fashionista globally and to get people looking at her. This is the Beckhams' attempt to become a truly global brand for the first time because they have never cracked America properly," Morgan said.
Splash has a six-person "Team Beckham" covering the couple for the first few weeks. Morgan said British clients wanted a Beckham watch from dawn to midnight.
On Monday, Beckham laughed off speculation she was hoping for an acting career. "I must be the only person in Los Angeles who doesn't want to be in films," she said. "I don't think I am that good at acting actually."
Fashion may be her passion, but the rail-thin Beckham could have an uphill task establishing herself as a trendsetter in laid-back Los Angeles, where flip-flops and T-shirts are de rigueur outside formal red-carpet events.
Celebrity website TMZ.com's coverage of Beckham on her recent trips to Los Angeles has been scathing, referring to her as "the doll-like diva" or "poshtitute spice" because of her apparent penchant for things short, tight or black.
Her characteristic pout has hardly helped.
"Beckham's only real accomplishments appear to be looking constantly hungry and pissed off and shtupping (having sex with) one of the sexiest men in the world," TMZ.com commented in June.
- REUTERS
